HPV

January is Cervical Cancer Month

The HPV is a virus that causes this type of cancer in Women, and every woman should monitor her health, in this area of her life. Below is a synopsis of information that will help the Women of our World to understand this virus and its effect, symptoms, etc.

Take Action!

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a mer of the papillomavirus family of viruses that is capable of infecting humans. Like all papillomaviruses, HPVs establish productive infections only in the stratified epithelium of the skin or mucous membranes. While the majority of the nearly 200 known types of HPV cause no symptoms in most people, some types can cause warts (verrucae), while others can – in a minority of cases – lead to cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina, and anus in women or cancers of the anus and penis in men.

Contrary to popular belief, all warts are not the same. From health site https://warts.org/types, different strains of HPV and which body part is affected determine the kind of wart. More than 30 to 40 types of HPV are typically transmitted through sexual contact and infect the anogenital region. Some sexually transmitted HPV types may cause genital warts. Persistent infection with “high-risk” HPV types—different from the ones that cause skin warts—may progress to precancerous lesions and invasive cancer.

HPV infection is a cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer;

however, most infections with these types do not cause disease.

Most HPV infections in young females are temporary and have little long-term significance. 70% of infections are gone in 1 year and 90% in 2 years. However, when the infection persists—in 5% to 10% of infected women—there is high risk of developing precancerous lesions of the cervix, which can progress to invasive cervical cancer. This process usually takes 15–20 years, providing many opportunities for detection and treatment of the pre-cancerous lesion. Progression to invasive cancer can be almost always prevented when standard prevention strategies are applied – however the lesions still cause considerable burden necessitating preventive surgeries which do in many cases involve loss of fertility.

In more developed countries, a cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) test is used to detect abnormal cells which may develop into cancer. During a colposcopic inspection biopsies can be taken and abnormal areas can be removed with a simple procedure, typically with a cauterizing loop or—more common in the developing world—by freezing (cryotherapy).

Pap smears have reduced the incidence and fatalities of cervical cancer in the developed world, but even so there were 11,000 cases and 3,900 deaths in the U.S. in 2008. Cervical cancer has substantial mortality in resource-poor areas; worldwide, there are an estimated 490,000 cases and 270,000 deaths.

HPV vaccines (Cervarix and Gardasil), which prevent infection with the HPV types (16 and 18) that cause 70% of cervical cancer, may lead to further decreases.

Cervical Cancer

The American Cancer Society estimated that in 2010, about 12,200 women in the United States would be newly diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer and about 4,210 US women would die from this disease.

Cervical cancer is malignant neoplasm of the cervix uteri or cervical area. It may present with vaginal bleeding, but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages. Treatment consists of surgery (including local excision) in early stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced stages of the disease.

Pap smear screening can identify potentially precancerous changes. Treatment of high grade changes can prevent the development of cancer. In developed countries, the widespread use of cervical screening programs has reduced the incidence of invasive cervical cancer by 50% or more.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary factor in the development of almost all cases of cervical cancer. HPV vaccines effective against the two strains of HPV that currently cause approximately 70% of cervical cancer have been licensed in the U.S, Canada, Australia and the EU. Since the vaccines only cover some of the cancer causing (“high-risk“) types of HPV, women should seek regular Pap smear screening, even after vaccination.

Take Action, and get Your PAP TEST!

A Celebration of Women